Coming Back to Club Part 2: Why is Ministry Evaluation Important?

When some people hear the word “evaluation” they can’t wait to get started. For others, their first thought is “not my thing!” Whether you love or loathe evaluations, the speakers at our recent Coming Back to Club online event say there is value in reflecting on what you’ve done in order to get to what you’d like to do. They share their thoughts on why ministry evaluation is important and how to get the most out of the evaluation process. 

“Evaluating [where you are] today is the starting point for whatever’s next,” says Andrea Perkins, missionary serving the Heart of Texas. “It’s like setting any goal. It starts with that first step, and if you don’t know where that first step starts, it’s really hard.”

Start With the Back-to-Club Guide

Recognizing that everyone is wired differently, she recommends approaching the evaluation process by beginning “in a really soft place” with the Awana Back-to-Club Guide. The guide is a free resource filled with tips and ideas to help you relaunch your children’s ministry this fall. Included in it are five sets of evaluation questions you can answer on your own, but better yet with others – your team, families, even church leadership.

She then suggests getting into the right head space and heart space so that you can get into a useful workspace to “design the ministry you love that meets all of your goals.”

Get into the Right Headspace

“Headspace is really important, especially if you don’t love evaluation or if you’re newer to it,” she says. “It’s not the place to feel embarrassed about bringing out, you know, some dirty ministry laundry. … It’s a place to take a look at what God has already allowed you to do and to celebrate those wins.” After that, think about things that are not 100% what you want them to be; recall what your goals were and are, and consider how you can move a little closer to your goals in the coming year. “Remember your ministry isn’t yours … it’s not about you, so we’re evaluating how open and how obedient we were to what God was asking us to do.”

Make Room for God in the Heart Space

The best way to get into the heart space, says Andrea, is to find a quiet space, get comfortable in it and really think through what it is you did and what you’d like to be doing. Reflect on how you answered the evaluation questions, as well as the feedback you received from others. In humility, ask God to tell you what to do next. 

She acknowledges how hard it is to carve out time, but stresses “there’s a real beauty in taking that time to listen to what God is actually saying to you … because He powered your ministry … because he powered you.” 

Create the Ideal Workspace

“You can’t be an island that happens to run Awana,” says Melanie Hester, community engagement manager and host of the online event. Include others as you plan the future; let them know you’re excited about the new year and want to include them in the process. “What better way to get engagement and involvement from [others] than to literally involve them.” 

“Your passion for your children’s ministry is contagious,” says Tyler O’Donnell, missionary in Kansas and a U.S. field director. “It starts with you. God could have put you on this earth at any point in time of history, and he chose you for this moment … to serve, to reach kids with the Gospel, here in the U.S. and in your city and your community.”

Says Andrea, “Even if you can’t necessarily come up with 100% solution to what they identify, you will be closer as co-laborers in this work because you sought out that feedback and took them seriously.”

When Awana leaders express to Tyler they don’t know whether they should try something new because they think it might not be the Awana way, he always answers affirms them. “Yes! You know what you want to do to find effective child discipleship … you know what works for your church and what works for your wanted ministry. You know your kids best.”

As for those big dreams everyone came up with? Resist feeling stressed about them. Says Andrea, “Just because you’ve identified things to develop or things to improve or ways you want to innovate, it doesn’t mean you [alone] are responsible for defining that solution … or for implementing any of the changes. Build a team to help you.”

Move Past the Pandemic Blur

If you find you can’t recall what club was like the last time you gathered, do as Andrea suggests and evaluate “from a place of hopefulness.” Call it a blank-slate evaluation, think of the questions in the Back-to-Club Guide in light of the future, and ask yourself: “If I could design an ideal ministry, how would it look?”

Says Bob Bennett, missionary in New York and Pennsylvania, “One of the things I love to do with churches … is to just take out a whiteboard and say, ‘If I come back a year from now and you’re telling me about the best year you ever had in Awana, what would that look like?’ and they start throwing out ideas!” Once the list is created, says Bob, then you can talk about steps to accomplish those goals.

Communicate With Others

Once you (and your team) have taken the time to work through the evaluation process, get yourself in the right head and heart space, and make plans in your workspace, there is one more thing you need to do: communicate it to everyone impacted by your decisions. “As you adapt that philosophy … continue to make sure [everyone] is unified in that vision,” says Melanie.

Bob puts everything into perspective. “If we don’t evaluate, we don’t know how to get better. We just keep doing the thing we’ve always done, year after year. The point is, we need to be effective. So when you take time to evaluate … you can start that upward spiral so that you’re getting better and better every year.”

To get started with your own evaluation and to learn helpful tips for relaunching your ministry year, download the Awana Back-to-Club Guide, watch the replay of the Coming Back to Club online event, check out our free resources and read our blogs, including part 1 of the Coming Back to Club Series about the essentials of child discipleship and Part 3, which explains how to facilitate change to move your ministry forward.

What are some of your goals for the new ministry season? Tell us about it in the comments.